Álvaro Uribe may run for a third term. Photograph: Mauricio Duenas/Getty

Colombia's congress has passed a bill paving the way for President Álvaro Uribe to run for a controversial third term.

Legislators hugged and applauded yesterday after a marathon session ended in a vote 85-5 in favour of the proposal, with 76 abstentions, a landslide which showed the strength of the Uribe bandwagon.

"The congress has fulfilled its duty," said Santiago Castro, a pro-Uribe congressman. "It's up to the Colombian people now to define the fate of the re-election at the polls."

Uribe, a conservative US ally who blends populism with a technocratic style, is popular for pushing back leftist guerrillas, improving security and restoring Colombia's confidence. But his nearly eight years in office have been marred by scandals linking his supporters to rightwing paramilitary groups and human rights abuses by security forces. Civilians were abducted, dressed up as rebels and murdered to swell the army's kill rate.

Critics warned another term will entrench an overmighty executive at the expense of other institutions. "What is in play here are the rules of the game of democracy," said opposition lawmaker River Franklin Legro on the eve of congress's vote.

Colombia is on course to follow a trend set by Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez, an Andean neighbour who amended the constitution to abolish term limits. The leftist leaders of Bolivia and Ecuador have also extended term limits. Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega recently said he wants to follow suit. All three are Chávez allies. Uribe has frosty relations with all four.

Colombia's leader, who this week is recovering from swine flu, has remained coy about whether he will run again in next May's presidential election. He still faces two obstacles before being able to do so.

The supreme court must review the bill, a process which could take months. Uribe appointed most of the judges but their support is not guaranteed, especially given alleged irregularities in the bill's path through congress.

Four years ago the court approved a constitutional change to allow Uribe run for a second term on the basis that would be his last. Approving a third term will be more contentious. The other hurdle is a referendum which would would ask voters to allow three consecutive term. A quarter of the electorate, or more than 7 million voters, must participate in the referendum.

Analysts think Uribe would probably win the referendum and subsequent election but caution that economic difficulties, and concern about the impact on democracy, could dampen his support.